Padua teachers facilitate students’ capacity to learn by maintaining high expectations for all students across the cognitive, spiritual, physical, social and emotional domains, and use this to inform their professional practice.
They have a collective responsibility to engage in a collaborative approach to planning, evaluating and modifying learning and teaching programs. Students are assisted to develop their capacity to make informed, reasoned and ethical judgements that impel them to act to make a positive impact on their world.
Learning is designed to develop the whole person
- Padua teachers actively engage with Catholic beliefs and values to guide their learning and teaching.
- Teaching practices that explicitly extend and challenge students to enhance academic outcomes are utilised.
- Teachers provide students with opportunities for social interaction to develop verbal and non-verbal communication, interpersonal and intrapersonal capacity.
High impact requires evidence-based innovative teaching practice
- Relevant educational research informs professional practice.
- Effective instructional strategies based on evidence from practice and current research are used to support teaching and learning.
- Data is collected, reviewed and evaluated to assess impact and refine future practice where necessary.
Continuous learning leads to a culture of improvement
- Padua teachers regularly undertake professional learning that is relevant, collaborative and future-focused, that they can share with their colleagues. This learning meets the requirements of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT).
- Padua teachers reflect on, question and consciously review professional practice and align annual goals and professional learning to College Key Priorities.
- Targeted learning is designed to challenge and extend every student; thereby building learning confidence.
Effective feedback enhances professional practice and significantly improves student outcomes
- Padua teachers utilise assessment of feedback, for and as learning.
- Padua teachers professionally engage with the coaching model that affirms and identifies areas for professional growth.
- Padua teachers act on instructional feedback to inform and enhance classroom practice.
- Padua teachers participate in classroom observation, collaboration, feedback and reflection that builds professional capacity.
Future-focused learning equips students to thrive in a rapidly changing and global environment
- Learning experiences that incorporate creative and critical-thinking strategies are provided, that build students’ capacity to debate and solve complex, authentic problems.
- Students are challenged to demonstrate informed, reasoned and ethical judgements, and to act with compassion and discernment.
- Padua teachers remain abreast of future trends within their learning area to teach students the essential knowledge and skills needed to prosper in local and global environments.
"Widen the space of your tent, extend the curtains of your home, do not hold back! Lengthen your ropes, make your tent-pegs firm." Isaiah 54: 2
